Muhammad v. Islamic Society of Orange County
Dr. Zakiyyah Muhammad sued the Islamic Society of Orange County (the ISOC) for unlawful discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 arising out of the circumstances culminating in her termination as the principal of its Islamic school. She also sued the ISOC and one of its directors, Dr. Fazal Mirza, for fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress; she sued the ISOCs treasurer, Refat Abodia, for conspiracy to commit fraud. A jury found in favor of Muhammad on most of her claims; it also found all defendants acted with malice and awarded punitive damages. The defendants appeal, contending there is insufficient evidence to uphold the judgment and that it was infected by prejudicial expert testimony on cultural biases against women. Court find the evidence supports the judgment for unlawful retaliation against the ISOC and for fraud against ISOC and Mirza. Because we affirm on these grounds, Court need not decide whether the evidence supports the judgment against the ISOC for unlawful discrimination or against the ISOC and Mirza for intentional infliction of emotional distress. (Roberts v. Ford Aerospace & Communications Corp. (1990) 224 Cal.App.3d 793, 799.) We find the evidence does not support the judgment for conspiracy to commit fraud against Abodia and reverse that portion of the judgment.
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